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The first issue of New History of the DC Universe is now in stores, unveiling the first chapter of the new canon of the comic book DCU at a time when the comic book and cinematic DC Universes are closer than ever before. Hidden amongst the revelations between the creation of reality to the destruction of Krypton in that first issue, however, is confirmation that a particularly controversial retcon of a number of characters’ backstories is now a canonical fact moving forward… which might point the way towards elements of DC Studios’ Superman.

As the first issue of New History of the DC Universe moves into the latter half of the 20th Century, the narration — contextually written by Barry Allen, the former Flash, although actually the work of series writer Mark Waid — explains, “Decades after the Justice Society vanished, the U.S. government reached out in desperation to several accomplished scientists and financiers in hopes of actively creating new heroes. Among those willing to participate were Dr. Niles Caulder, Will Magnus, Professor Martin Stein and Simon Stagg. This arrangement will retroactively be deemed The Supermen Project, Phase One, and its edits would be significant in the years to come.”

That last sentence is an understatement: longterm DC fans know Niles Caulder as The Chief from the Doom Patrol, Will Magnus as the creator of the Metal Men, Martin Stein as half of Firestorm, and Simon Stagg as the financier and thorn in the side of Metamorpho. What they may have forgotten, however, is that The Superman Project has appeared before as a concept and plot point in 2017’s Doomsday Clock — the 12-issue comic book series that brought Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ celebrated Watchmen into the mainstream DC Universe and was officially described by then-DC publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee as a sequel to Watchmen.

As established in that series, The Supermen Project was a government program that resulted in the creation of Firestorm and a number of his villains, as well as Metamorpho, Batman villains Man-Bat and Lady Clayface, and a number of other characters. In the Doomsday Clock scenario, the Supermen Project suggested that the U.S. government assigned roles to its creations as ‘superhero’ or ‘supervillain,’ whereas many of them were simply soldiers training and awaiting activation as a superhuman military — leading to a global arms race where other countries also leaned into the creation of superhumans as potential military figures.

The canonicity of Doomsday Clock and the Supermen Project had, to this point, been a tricky question; the series itself involved the rewriting of DC history — Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan does so more than once, initially removing, and then restoring characters like the Justice Society and the Legion of Super-Heroes to the timeline — and elements of the series were seemingly contradicted in the contemporaneous Dark Nights: Death Metal series, which again rewrote DC history. (Now you see why New History of the DC Universe is needed in the first place.) Now, however, fans know that the Superman Project, at least, is officially and properly part of DC lore... and that the US government created some of DC’s super characters.

So what does this have to do with DC Studios’ Superman? Well, the first teaser trailer showed us a Stagg Industries logo behind Superman as well as a glimpse of Metamorpho, and the subsequent Peacemaker S2 trailer confirmed that the Justice Gang of Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl are working for industrialist Maxwell Lord. For that matter, 2024’s animated Creature Commandos — which DC Studios co-head James Gunn has said is world building for the DCU ahead of Superman — revealed that Will Magnus was working on his Metal Men in the mid-20th century. So… is the DCU of DC Studios one in which the Superman Project created the superhumans that populate the world before Superman’s arrival?

It’s certainly beginning to look that way, but we won’t know for sure until July 11, when Superman is released in theaters. For now, New History of the DC Universe #1 is available in stores and digitally… and perhaps offering more clues about the future of the DCU in comic books and movies if you know where to look.

James Gunn's Superman is flying into theaters soon enough, and Popverse has all you need to prepare. Refreshing your cinematic memory with our Superman movie watch order, learn what we know about the upcoming Superman movie, Superman's S-Shield through the ages, and read about what DC is doing ahead of their flagship hero's triumphant return.